Coldplay shines during local concert

(Review of the Coldplay show by my buddy, and fellow music scribe, Tony Hicks:)

One knows it’s not a run-of-the-mill, overly serious Britpop show when, 10 minutes before the band goes on, the crowd launches into a terribly giddy version of the wave.

Is that what Coldplay’s career come to: playing to American arenas full of people who don’t know they’re supposed to take this band more “seriously?”

Yes and … yes, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, especially if you aren’t one of the music snobs who clung to the band after its first two albums. Coldplay’s career arc has gained it a certain level of commercial success that Chris Martin and his mates were in no way eschewing Friday night (July 18) at HP Pavilion at San Jose. In fact, they were pushing it, with a crowd-friendly, clap-along, c’mon-get-happy show that, at times, would’ve fit nicely in Las Vegas.

At times it worked; at times it didn’t. It was nice to see a band that too many people crowned as the intellectual standard-bearer of rock music eight years ago, just put on a show.
Pumping up the fun factor to an arena packed with screaming, giddy fans certainly had its advantages. The band scored by throwing such Coldplay standards as “Clocks” and “In My Place” to the crowd early on. The self-deprecating Martin â€” who missed a couple cues to everyone’s delight â€” excelled at being the affable, almost goofy, “who, me?” frontman that made him far more human and likable than in the past.

On the other hand, it was evident Friday night that much of the former moodiness and aura that lent power to Coldplay’s live show has been replaced by stunts like alternate stages in the crowd (not one, but two, including a late-show jaunt through the crowd for a couple songs halfway up the first deck) and props that would’ve fit perfectly in a circus.

It was difficult to reject but hard to totally embrace at the same time. The band was tight and Martin’s voice was as fresh as on record, especially with drummer Will Champion’s harmonies.

But the counterpoint to all that smoothness was a show that was almost too seemless. Occasionally, it felt like a hurried review of medleys, as if Coldplay was intent on squeezing as much material from its four records into a 95-minute set as possible â€” with notable exceptions from its new album “Viva La Vida or Deeath and All His Friends,” like “42,” which resonated powerfully.

The band shifted gears, not entirely successfully, by disembarking the big stage about a third-of-the way through for a more intimate square out in the crowd. There, Coldplay played a couple songs, including a hurried, stripped-down version of “God Put a Smile Upon Your Face,” which lacked the dynamic subtlety of the original.

Throughout the show, Martin and company balanced new and old, with the monster hit “Yellow” being the giant sing-along of the night. “Politik” was one of the few classic Coldplay songs afforded the proper space it needed, as did “Death and All His Friends.”

It proved Coldplay can still put the showbiz rush on hold to treat a live song with the proper respect. Coldplay is still a good live band, even if it doesn’t seem as challenging as it used to be.

Jim Harrington

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Good concert as their last tour. you can feel they just started but the energy was there.

Dino

July 31, 2008, just finished watching coldplay at Air Canada Centre in Toronto. Was a great concert, except for it being too short (90 minutes) and no encore. The opening band was horrible, glad I missed most of it……

Wendel

I agree the July 31st show in T.O. was great but too short. These guys are my favourite band, but I can’t understand what happened Thursday night. They say they love T.O. and then don’t even play 1 encore. I heard Chris might have been sick, but they have to atleast say something to that effect. Everyone I went with felt they were taken on this great journey throughout the night, and then abruptly dumped at the end of the night. I want to agree with Chris that they are the biggest band in the world, but I don’t think the bigggest band would do something like that.

Jody

Saw Coldplay perform in Orlando last night and they played an amazing set but they only played for 80 min!!! Very disappointing.

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